Officer Mike Roberts and Officer Sarah Kerwin stop a Nissan Pathfinder for traffic violations. The driver, a young, red-headed female, has no license and no insurance. Officer Roberts searches the vehicle and finds drug paraphernalia and a small amount of heroin. Officer Roberts explains to her that she is “circling the drain” and that he wants to see her make better decisions. Roberts shows the young female a blank key that he found in the vehicle and uses it as a metaphor. Officer Roberts explains how this key represents her life, that the key is blank and she can groove it however she wants. Officers Kerwin and Roberts decide to give her another chance and she is kicked loose.
Officer Roberts and Fender make contact with a couple of people in a parked car. After talking to the male passenger he tells the officers that he has a warrant. He is placed in cuffs and then states that he stole the car. Officer Roberts gets the female passenger out and he finds a little bit of meth in her purse. They can’t confirm the car is stolen but the male suspect says he lied about stealing the car so that the female would not get in trouble. The male suspect goes to jail for his warrant and Officer Roberts talks to the female passenger about quitting meth.
| Name | Michael Roberts |
| Rank | Police Officer |
| Agency | Portland Police |
| Station/Area Command | East Precinct |
| Age | |
| From | New York |
| Hired | 02/2007 |
| Why Law Enforcement | Stumbled into it. I wanted a job where I could actually impact the people around me and at the end of a hard work day I could look myself in the mirror and feel good about the man looking back at me. Of course, like anyone not involved in law enforcement I had no idea what I was truly getting into. |
| First Arrest | It was odd. I arrested a man on a shoplift. I was riddled with compassion and it was the first of many events leading me to my views on economic inequality. |
| Best part of the job | I really love to connect with individuals. There is so little we can affect on society as a whole, working as an extension of government. However, when you are one on one with someone who is at such a low point that police are involved…opportunity sometimes presents itself. Every once in a while someone hears the words they need to make it through a moment…and every once in a while I am privileged enough to be that person who says those words. |
| Hobbies | I love getting out…and running and playing sports…but I also have a great passion for food and travel. I really love life as a whole. I think the better question is what I don’t like to do..(.I don’t like okra). |
| Favorite Quote | “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us…”-Nelson Mandela |
Corporal Justin Laing spots a stolen car listed on the department’s hot sheet. After a dangerous pursuit through a neighborhood, the driver crashes into a parked truck and flees from the vehicle. Corporal Laing gives chase and begins hopping fences, giving directional updates as he goes. Officer Willie Bermudez responds to the pursuit and arrives as several units chase the suspect into a backyard. The suspect makes it over one more fence and is taken into custody. The injured and winded suspect explains to Bermudez that he got the car from his friend, but can’t remember his full name. He claims he didn’t stop because he was trying to get home to his kid and wanted to “avoid all of this”. Bermudez explains the charges to the suspect and suggests this might be a moment to change the path of the young man’s life.
Officer Adam Koahou receives a call of a man armed with a knife on a public bus. By the time Officer Koahou arrives on the scene, the other passengers have evacuated the bus and backup officers have arrived. After a quick strategy meeting, the officers board the bus and approach the armed suspect. While on the ground, the suspect begins to resist arrest and the officers resort to a taser strike in order to safely cuff him. The man claims to have seen a wild cat, which caused him to fear for his life and take his knife out on the bus. A pipe with methamphetamine residue is found in the suspect’s possession and he is arrested and taken away.
Officer Mark Lindsey of the Neighborhood Response Squad is notified by a detective that a suspect with a felony warrant has been spotted walking down a main street. Officer Lindsey pulls up and stops the young man. The suspect gives a false name, yet answers to his real name of “Ivan”. Eventually, the suspect admits to his real name and is taken into custody. Once in custody, the suspect becomes animated and begins to rap. He is taken to jail for his felony warrant.
While on patrol, Corporal Michael Milazzo of the Lafayette Police Department spots a vehicle with incorrect plates. As Corporal Milazzo approaches the SUV, he notices a loaded magazine on the driver’s seat in plain view. Both the driver and his girlfriend are convicted felons. Upon further inspection of the vehicle, Milazzo finds a stashed meth pipe and handgun. Although the driver of the vehicle denies ownership of the gun, both of his companions say otherwise. Because of the driver’s felony status, he goes to jail for the firearm. Corporal Milazzo takes the time to speak with the driver’s girlfriend about drug use and then lets her go.